Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1887-08-28
THE RAT-CATChER.
OLD rox ccorER, OF BRooxLYx, TELLS
Hrs sroRY.
A Business like Others, MIST BE- Looked
Aftsr-what Work the fsrrsss
no. Etc.

here gees chnfscttfs
Brooklyn politicisn to New YORK
journal reporter one day last week.
He pointed at thin man OF medium
height who was walking slowly along
the shady side of Fulton street witnnis
hands III his pockets and smoking
brisr-wood pipe.
who is he ?" was the question.
tom Cooper. the ratcatcher.
Esyent You heard Of him? No!
Why, he's worth great deal o. money
and big gun in South Brooklyn. You
slouid make his acqusintancc."
The reporter concluded to have tax
with ON, and the following day called
on him at his place in Ninth street. lie
vas found in she'd doctoring colored
feIret which had met with an injury to
its feet. The little animal was lying
en- It's back on his lap, and seemed as
tsne as baby kitten.
The eray-hsired rat catcher pushed
over etarch-box and invited the re-
porter 10 sit Gown. While he went on
with his work ON "Snapper's" foot he
talked Of himself and the business.
"Yes, I'm Britsher,' be said with
q smile, "but I've lived in this ere
town twenty.six years, and guess that
makes ne considerable Of IN American,
too. I've been in this business ever
since / was eighteen years old, and I'm
nigh on TO fifty-fve now"
IL suppose, like every other branch
Of industry, this Of yours has been
pretty well written up said the re-
porter. :.
".Well," replied Tom, "there has
been some yarns in the newspapers
about rat catching, but most OF it has
been bosb. You can't make romance
cut of this business, because there's
none in it. 1t is just like other bust
nesses."
"BIt it pays?"
"Yes, there's money in it il n man
does the business well, because there
amt no opposition. Rat catching amt
picked up in day. 1t takes years OF
patient work for man to get his hand
in. A green rat-catcher will so to work
ard make a botch OF the thing. I've
known Of them getting bit all to pisces
on the first job. They wouldn't yant
any more of it.
s'ls your work all on land ?"
"No, sonny, 1 have plenty OF work
aboard ship. There's where the rats
are big and ferocious. They're hard to
tackle. When put the ferrels to work
in big ship there's lively times, l tell
you"
Tom said that it's regular thing for
a swarm of ship rats to climb up tue
hawsers and rigging and get on the
decks. There they will form brigade
and make their peculiar noises until
tie land and dock rats have been
attracted. Then there is battle in
which the land-lubbers always get
beaten. =.
81 divide the rats into three kinds,
continued the old catcher. "There's
the city rat, the country rat, and the
ship rat. The city rat is the larger OF
the three ard of light brown color,
with whitish, belly. The Italian ship
rat is as big as a Maltese cat. The
ship rat has got teeth as yellow as sal
iron, and if they get through your
skin you won't like il muchly. l sci
SEQ for clearing the rats out OF snip
and it's pretty hard work sometimes.
"Tell Us how you clear a building.
"When goes 20 place ! finds on
the room with the most rat-holcs III 1t
Then plug them all up but one. Th'
ferrets 90 down, and then fix quar-
ter.inch mesh over the hole and 81
down and watch. The rats soon CONF
up and l grab them with tonSs or m,
fingers ard put 'era into bag. Ate
two or thee hours the ferret, will hay
killed or sent up every rat in the place
II tie ferrets don't come up then,
whistle for en-. It's pretty hard to &c
tie f.rrets up if there's live rat left.
The reporter was shown the ferret'
which were lying about the sheds III
der cages aud boxes. They respoade
promptly to their owners whistle. Ie
dollars apiece he paid for dozen
them.
"They kill both ways" said be
"One'll bite the neck and draw ont a
the blood. That's the best. My be-
ferret will kill half dozen rats in to
minutes. He's so tame that he'll folio
me about and crawl oil over me. lie
getting too big for the work, and can
work some rat-holes. They live o
bread and milk and fresh meat, bc
they don't get any for twenty-fou
hours previous to hunt"
Tie ret catcher has a yearly contraI
with most of the hotels and the store
house owners. Under these contract
be clears out the place, once week
Sometimes, he said, he caught Ga
thousand rats in one Of the big buil1
ines. When rat batting vas a spoi
permitted, he frequently received s.
for one hundred OF SO of the rodents
This business he pronounced as "bus
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